University of Twente Student Theses
Sensemaking in een militaire context : sensemaking strategieën & morele beslissingen tijdens militaire uitzending
Meijer, D.J.W. (2014) Sensemaking in een militaire context : sensemaking strategieën & morele beslissingen tijdens militaire uitzending.
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| Abstract: | Introduction. During their deployment, servicemen are regularly confronted with moral dilemma's, requiring certain decision making. These situations are often unclear and complex. Sensemaking can give insight into an unclear situation and urge action. The current study aims to answer the following question: which sensemaking strategies can be distinguished in regard to the decision making concerning moral dilemma's during military deployment and which relation exists between the use of different sensemaking strategies and the variables: 1; moral fundamentals 2; leadership, accountability and responsibility, 3; moral intensity and 4; moral emotions? Method. The current research can be divided into an explorative section (variables moral emotions, moral fundamentals and moral intensity) and a testing section (variables leadership, accountability and responsibility). In order to answer the central question, a survey research has been conducted among people working for the Armed forces of Netherlands. The survey consists of a scenario sketching a moral dilemma and questions/statements to measure all variables. There were two versions of the questionnaire, each containing a different scenario of a moral dilemma. The scenario's were selected based on a pilot study. The survey was completed by a total of 184 military personnel, consisting of 179 men and 5 women. Results. The results of the explorative section show many correlations between the dependent variables and the sensemaking strategies. However, it became apparent that the variance of the scores on the sensemaking strategies were only slightly influenced by these factors. The factor 'moral emotions' particularly affected several sensemaking strategies, consisting of the emotions: powerlessness, contempt, rage, disgust, shame, compassion and guilt. Furthermore, 4 out of 5 moral foundations appeared to influence the decision making regarding sensemaking strategy. Also, a high degree of moral intensity correlates to a high score on the strategy ‘thinking critically’. The results of the testing section indicate that supervisors score significantly higher on the information integration strategy than servicemen with no supervising role. Besides, supervisors have lower scores on regulation of emotion. Conclusion. In conclusion, it can be stated that moral emotions, moral fundamentals and the level of deployment experience are strong predictors of sensemaking strategies. The general picture sketched by the results is that moral emotions, moral fundamentals and experience are of importance when making sense of a moral dilemma. Based on the results of the current research, it is recommended to add moral emotions and moral fundamentals to the dilemma training preparing for deployment. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/65723 |
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